Mo' Money Podcast | Personal Finance with Jessica Moorhouse

Millennial money expert, Accredited Financial Counsellor Canada® and podcast host Jessica Moorhouse interviews top personal finance & business experts like John Lee Dumas, Chris Guillebeau, Bruce Sellery, Preet Banerjee and Rob Carrick, as well as inspirational entrepreneurs, authors, bloggers, friends and family to help you learn how to manage your money better, make smarter choices, earn more money, become debt-free and live a more fulfilled and balanced life.
New episodes air every Wednesday. For helpful resources, blog posts and podcast episode show notes, visit jessicamoorhouse.com. To enquire about being a guest on a future episode, visit jessicamoorhouse.com/podcastsubmissions.

For my Season 6 finale episode, I chat with Kathlyn Hart, podcast host of The Big Leap Show and salary negotiation coach. We talk about earning what you deserve, practical ways to ask for a promotion and/or raise, and recognizing when it's time to jump ship for the chance at a higher salary with a different company.

As I mentioned in this episode, I'll be taking the next two months off for a much needed break, but I'll be back for Season 7 in September!

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It’s the Season 6 finale episode, but I’m ending things off with one hell of an inspiring and motivating episode! I chat with salary negotiation coach Kathlyn Hart about what to do (and not to do) to negotiate a higher salary so you can be paid your worth.

It’s actually pretty funny timing this episode because this time 2 years ago is when I asked my boss for a promotion and a raise. I thought I took all the right steps to level up my job and income, but little did I know I actually made a ton of mistakes. So many in fact that I ended up quitting that job.

Obviously, I don’t regret how things turned out. It gave me the push I needed to leave a job that wasn’t fulfilling to run my own business. And now, I’m a year and a half in to being an entrepreneur and I’m so thankful for it.

But, that being said, I sure wish I knew some of the tips and tactics Kathlyn shares in this episode when I was back working a 9 to 5. I wonder how things would have been different.

To sum up some of Kathlyn top tips, I’ve compiled them below in case you want to be brave and get paid better than you are now.

Salary Negotiation Beings in the Job Search

This was a big mistake I made early on. I always chose jobs and industries that were on the downturn or didn’t have any growth potential. Because of this, for most of my corporate life, I earned really low salaries and never got promotions or raises.

Well, what you’re supposed to do is pick a job and industry that are the opposite of that. As Kathlyn mentions, a project manager for a non-profit is going to be paid substantially less than a project manager for a Fortune 500 company. This is something you need to consider before applying for jobs, because it could be the difference of earning $50,000 or $150,000 per year.

Be Confident When Talking Salaries in Interviews

I always dreaded when the interviewer would ask me my salary expectations. Most of the time I was so desperate for the job, I always gave them my lowest possible number, and would always kick myself a few months later when I was in a role making less than I deserved.

Do not do this. Kathlyn has a strategy that focuses on your wish, your want and your walk. Those three numbers are your dream salary, the salary you’d be satisfied with, and the salary that would make you walk away from the job offer because it’s too low. Instead of starting with your lowest offer, ask for your dream salary. Of course, it’s important to back that number up with research, comparables from other jobs in similar sectors, and your skillset. But, if you present your ask with confidence and certainty, the interviewer will be more likely to see your value and want to lock you down for the job.

Be Okay with Walking Away

If you don’t feel like you’re earning enough at your current job, and you feel like you’ve done everything to bump up your salary but nothing’s working, it might be time to walk away. It’s no secret that the easiest way to increase your salary is by jumping ship to another company. Just make sure you’re prepared to ask for the salary you really want before accepting your next job offer.

One of the most common questions I get from people when it comes to investing is "Am I even doing it right?" It was also a question that my next guest Pauline Shum Nolan (Finance Professor) also gets, which is why she co-created Wealthscope, a website that helps investors understand their investments so they can feel more confident about what they're doing.

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It’s not every day I get to chat with a professor of finance! But that’s exactly why I sometimes have to pinch myself because my job as a podcast host can sometimes be so unfairly fun.

For this episode of the Mo’ Money Podcast, I sit down with Pauline Shum Nolan, Professor of Finance at the Schulich School of Business at York University and the co-founder and CEO of Wealthscope.

Basically, when it comes to investing, she really is an expert. She not only teaches finance at York University, she also manages the school’s pension program. And if she wasn’t busy enough, she developed an website called Wealthscope to educate and empower investors.

We talk a lot about investing strategies in this episode, and big point we both keep bringing up is the lack of confidence so many people have when it comes to investing. That’s why so many of us just want to hand everything over to an advisor to deal with it, even if that might actually be the worst thing we could do with our finances.

You see, investing isn’t that complicated when you break it down. And once you truly understand the basics, it’s easy to slowly build up your investing knowledge to a point where you feel completely comfortable managing your own investment portfolio, buying and selling stocks, and knowing when to call out someone for spreading misinformation.

Here are a few key points we discussed in our interview together.

Stay Diversified & Ditch High Fees

Investing doesn’t just mean dumping your money in stocks and hoping for the best. It also shouldn’t mean handing over your money to an advisor and praying they manage your money properly. The best way to invest is to be an informed investor, staying diversified (investing in multiple investment products), and saying no to high fees.

Let’s first start with staying diversified. There’s nothing wrong with investing in individual stocks, real estate or cryptocurrency. But you would be making a mistake if that was the only thing you’re invested in. A better way to invest would be to invest in index funds or index-based ETFs, then some individual stocks and/or real estate. And if you really wanted to dabble in something highly speculative, throw some money at cryptocurrency. Basically, following the rule of thumb to not put all of your eggs in one basket is the best way to do it.

As for fees, the less fees you pay, the more money in your pocket. That’s why a lot of people are moving away from actively managed mutual funds in favour of low fee ETFs or index funds. You could be saving 1-2% in fees, which over a few decades could equal to hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Keep It Simple When Rebalancing Your Portfolio

Now, if you’re on board with becoming a DIY investor (which I think is awesome!), this is actually one of the top questions I get asked after what ETFs should I invest in (which I usually suggest checking out the Canadian Couch Potato’s model portfolios for a start).

Rebalancing your portfolio isn’t something you should fret over. As mentioned countless times in Andrew Hallam’s amazing book Millionaire Teacher, you only need to rebalance your portfolio once per year, or when there is a big market correction.

All rebalancing means is either sell/buying some of your equities or fixed income so it goes back to your initial asset allocation goal (ie. 80% equities, 20% fixed income), or buying more equities or fixed income to balance things out.

To learn more about how to rebalance your portfolio, read this article from Investopedia.

For this episode, I talk with Gwen Merz, the blogger behind Fiery Millennials and the co-host of FIRE Drill Podcast. As you may have guessed, we go in-depth about FIRE, chat about Gwen achieving financial independence in her 20s, and some terms you may not have her of from the FIRE community.

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For this episode of the podcast, I chat with a new friend I made recently at an event called Statement. It was a women in business retreat for women in the financial blogging space, and I can’t even tell you how life changing it’s been. But that’s not what I want to share anyway. I want to share that at this event, I got to meet the amazing Gwen Merz who was able to achieve something not many 20-year-olds can! I’m talking about achieving financial independence.

We chat in-depth about what that actually means, and no, it doesn’t mean she’s retired. For her, it means she saved up enough money to afford to leave her corporate job, move cities and then focus on her blog (Fiery Millennials) and podcast (FIRE Drill Podcast) full-time. It also means she saved up enough money that by retirement age, it will have grown to an amount she could easily retire on.

So I know I’ve had a lot of guests on the show in the FIRE community that have been able to achieve financial independence and retire early, but Gwen’s story might actually be a bit related. She didn’t save up a million dollars and is now living an easy life. She was able to save up $200,000, bought an income property for about $80,000, but still intends to work to earn a living.

She’s set things up so in the future she will earn passive income from your property and her $200,000 will have compounded into a way bigger amount she can live off of in retirement. But, she still needs to earn money for her present needs. Which is why now she’s exploring some different entrepreneurial avenues such as making stained glass art and selling it, selling courses on how to start an Etsy store, and monetizing her popular blog and podcast.

You see, FIRE isn’t a straight road. You can actually apply the principles in any way you want. There’s no right or wrong way to FIRE!

Here are a couple other things we talked about when talking FIRE.

Lean FIRE vs. Fat FIRE

These are terms I recently learned about when I was actually at a FIRE meetup in New York City last month. Lean FIRE is when you’ve saved up enough to live on for the foreseeable future, but you’d be living a fairly frugal life. You’re living in a low cost of living area, your expenses are minimal, and you don’t need that much to live off of. It’s sounds fine if you’re more of a minimalist, but obviously it’s a bit restricting

Fat FIRE is when you’ve saved up enough to live the life you really want with little to no restrictions. For instance, I met a woman at the meetup who was on her way to achieving Fat FIRE and she told me her goal was to save up $7 million. Albeit, she wanted to continue living in New York and travel a lot, but it’s a big difference when compared to Lean FIRE.

Why the FIRE Community is Exploding

My only comparison to the FIRE community is the debt-payoff community. Two communities that are massive and members are diehards for. With FIRE, to me at least, it’s a bit more exciting. The end goal is to have enough money to live whatever life you want. And that’s exactly why Gwen also thinks the FIRE community is exploding right now. It gives people purpose with their money. Instead of just being responsible with your money so you can eventually afford to buy that car, that house or some trips in the future, it’s way more exciting to save up for early retirement or the freedom to quit your job to start your own business!

That’s sort of why I consider myself a bit financially independent. I don’t have enough to retire on or anything like that, but I did have the financial security to be able to leave my job to focus all my energy on my own business.

It's been a few years since I had Jen Hemphill on the show (episode 48, check it out!). And a lot has happened since that first interview. Jen is now an author, having recently published her first book entitled Her Money Matters, and we discuss three big components in her book for this episode: finding your "Why", financial confidence and practicing value-based spending.

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For this episode, I’m bringing back a guest who hasn’t been on the show since 2016 (episode 48 if you want to check it out), and boy has a lot happened since then. I’m talking about the wonderful Jen Hemphill, who is a money confidence coach and Accredited Financial Counselor®, as well as the podcast host of Her Money Matters.

But she also has a new title she just added, and that’s author. She recently published her first book, also called Her Money Matters, and we dig in to some of the big topics she discusses in her book in this episode.

Finding Your “Why” Is Key for Your Money

I am a big believer that money isn’t just about money. It’s so much more than that. Money is also about your hopes, dreams and goals. And the only way to achieve any of those is by figuring out your why. We all know we shouldn’t spend too much, should save and invest, and should get or stay out of debt. But without a clear why for doing any of these things, we don’t do any of them. That’s why determining your “Why” is key for financial success. It’s a huge motivator and will keep you on track and grounded.

Financial Confidence Is Something We Need to Work More On

This may not be a big issue with men, but it’s a big issue with women. I talk to so many amazing women that from the outside look like they are doing so well! And then they explain how they don’t have that much confidence when it comes to managing their own money or asking for a raise. This is a big problem, and something we all (men and women) need to work on. If we’re all confident in ourselves, we’ll naturally make better decisions and be able to live lives that are more joyful and fulfilling.

Value-Based Spending Is a Better Way to Spend

For years (and sometimes even still), it felt like every book or newspaper article I read, the advice was the same: “Stop spending your money!” or “Stop buying expensive lattes!” Well, when you keep hearing those things over and over, you start to feel bad about spending anything at all, and that’s just ridiculous! Money is meant to be spent. The money you’re currently saving up? You’ll eventually spend it. That’s the purpose of money. But, it doesn’t mean you should overspend. It’s important to practice value-based spending, so you are spending on things that align with your values and bring you joy, while staying conscious of your budget.

If we're not mindful with our money, that's when mistakes happen. Stupid mistakes. Mistakes that are 100% avoidable. Mindfulness plays a bit role in our financial lives, which is why for this episode I interview Laurie J. Cameron, author of The Mindful Day, to explore this topic in-depth.

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It was such a treat to have Laurie J. Cameron on the show to talk in-depth about mindfulness, and what role it plays in our financial lives, and our lives in general.

Mindfulness, as you may already know, has become a sort of buzz word lately. Millennials especially are desperate for a solution to their digital anxiety, and mindfulness practice is being adopted at a very high rate (for a very good reason).

I myself have been trying to practice mindfulness. As I mentioned in this episode, I sometimes feel like I’m always chain to a computer, my phone and there are just a million things to do. What’s worse is because I feel perpetually busy, most of the time I’m just working on auto-pilot, without really taking a moment to consider what I’m doing. And when it comes to money, you don’t want to be on auto-pilot. You want to be mindful of every decision you make, so you know you’re making the right decision, not the just easiest one.

I know I’m not alone, and I know that this is no way to live. It’s not sustainable and it just leads to more stress and anxiety, and who wants that? This is why I wanted to have Laurie on the show. To share her wisdom with us and to provide some helpful practices we can all start doing right now in our daily lives.

You don't have to get into debt to go to school. Even though it looks as if everyone has student debt these days, there are actually people out there that go to go to school for free! And no, it's not because they are trust-fund kids, it's because they applied to scholarships and were able to secure enough funding to pay for their tuition. I was able to get my first year paid because of scholarships, and Jocelyn Paonita, founder of The Scholarship System, was able to get her degree paid from scholarships too. Now, she's on a mission to help others prevent themselves from getting into student debt by teaching others about scholarships through her online community, courses and book.

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I met Jocelyn Paonita Pearson over 2 years ago at FinCon in San Diego. And ever since that first meeting, I remember thinking that I needed to interview Jocelyn on my podcast.

Well, it took me a while to finally get around to ask her, but I’m so glad I did wait because she has been able to accomplish so much since that first meeting. Now, she’s running her own successful company called The Scholarship System, has a best-selling book (also called The Scholarship System), and has a popular online course focused on helping parents and students find scholarships. As mentioned in our interview together, right up until now her company has helped secure $1,000,000 in scholarships for students. In other words, that’s $1,000,000 of debt those students just avoided. That’s major!

In our interview, we chat a lot about how to prevent getting into debt through student loans by getting scholarships, and I want to share the 3 top tips Jocelyn shared with me about how to up your chances of getting scholarships to pay for college.

Start Local

Don’t start big when it comes to scholarships, start small by researching local scholarships you’re eligible for. The logic with this is that even though these scholarships may not be big money, there is less competition because most people don’t know about them. Jocelyn herself had some great experiences applying (and getting) local scholarships for her own degree. One degree she mentioned only had 4 applicants, and the it was then decided that the scholarship would be divided evenly amongst each applicant so everyone came out ahead!

Pitch Companies to Start their Own Scholarships

If there’s a company you like, pitch them the idea to start their own scholarship. Not only would there be some potential tax benefits, it could also be used as a marketing tool or a way for them to recruit future talent.

All You Need Is One Great Application Kit

Yes, it will take you some to get your materials together to apply to a bunch of different scholarships, but here’s a great tip. Just focus your energy on creating one awesome application kit, that should include things like a personal statement, then tweak those documents just a little bit to customize them for each application.

Most students think they need to create unique documents for each application, but you can actually just duplicate what you’ve got by making small changes to each. That’s what you do when you’re applying for different jobs, so it’s the same thing for scholarship applications.

Another inspiring interview to get you excited about FIRE! I interview Chris Reining in this episode, who was able to achieve financial independence by 35 (meaning he saved up $1million), and retire comfortably at 37. Now, he spends his days working out, doing yoga and meditating, and writing on his blog at ChrisReining.com. So, how did he do it? He shares how in this interview, so check it out!

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I’ve been chatting to a lot more guests this season who’ve been able to achieve financial independence in their 30s, and wow is it inspiring! Because really, they didn’t do anything crazy to achieve financial independence. They just made that their main goal and went for it!

And Chris Reining, who was able to reach financial independence at 35 and retire at 37, is no different. He didn’t come from wealth, and although near the end of his career his was earning money, he was by no means “rich”. He worked in cyber security in Madison, Wisconsin and did two main things to reach his goal of saving up $1,000,000 for retirement.

Practice Value-Based Spending

This term “value-based spending” has been popping up a lot more, and for good reason. It’s taking the extreme out of being totally frugal or a shopaholic. It is giving you permission to spend your money (because after all, that’s what it’s for), but also giving you that balance and perspective so you spend it wisely. By practicing value-based spending, not only will you feel more joy when you do spend money, you’ll also find that there’s a lot more money available to save for your future goals.

Chris shares that when he started practicing this, he found it easy to cut out coffee, cable and his expensive hobby of flying planes. They didn’t align with his values, and so he started only spending money on what did, and then making a conscious effort to live below his means so he could continue to save up and invest for his goal of early retirement.

Earn More Money

As Chris says in our interview together, at a certain point, there’s no where else to cut back, and at that point you’ll need to figure out how to earn more money. What Chris did to grow in his career and earn a higher salary was find a mentor, learn some new skills and push himself to take public speaking lessons by joining Toastmasters.

By doing this, he was able to earn more and reach his goal of financial independence that much sooner.

For the second time on the podcast (I had him on the show in 2015, episode 25 if you want to check that out after), I chat with The Value of Simple author John Robertson about his tips for practical investing for Canadians.

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It’s crazy to see how fast time flies…like when I interviewed John Robertson, author ofThe Value of Simple and personal finance blogger at HolyPotato.net, for the first time for episode 25 of the Mo’ Money Podcast back in Nov. 2015. That was almost 3 years ago! And that was also back when I got my guests to come over to my tiny apartment in Toronto to record with me in person. How is it already May 2018 and I’m at episode 158? HOW?!

A lot has changed since that first interview. Not only has my own life and career changed significantly, but my investing knowledge too. When I first interviewed John, I’m almost embarrassed to admit how little I understood about investing. But then again, that was the whole point of interviewing him! So I could learn more about it and help others do the same.

You see, everyone starts from investing knowledge 0, but no one ever talks about that, do they? When the topic of investing comes up, it always seems like everyone in the room knows what everyone else is talking about, and the ones who don’t, well, they just keep that to themselves and presumably google what “index fund” and “diversified portfolio” mean later (like I used to do).

That’s why I really loved talking to John for episode 25. He explained investing, and more specifically index investing, in a very understandable and simple way. Which is a big reason why I’m always recommending his book The Value of Simple and his Practical Index Investing for Canadians course to anyone who wants to broaden their investing knowledge and be able to take action with confidence afterwards.

That’s also why I wanted to bring him back on the show, because in the 2.5 years that have passed since our first interview, not only am I much more knowledgeable and confident when it comes to investing, I’m now an Accredited Financial Counselor-Canada® (which just means I studied investing in-depth to get my certification).

If there’s one thing I hope you take away from this new interview with John, it’s that investing is for everyone. It’s not reserved for the already wealthy. It’s not just something people who love stock picking do. And it’s not something you need a lot of money or time to get started.

Remember, if this girl who literally didn’t know what an index fund was 3 years ago can figure it out and become an empowered investor, so can you!

Confidence doesn't just mean walking in the room and feeling powerful. It's what can help us get that job on the first interview, get that raise or promotion, network more authentically, or even start your own money-making venture. For this episode of the podcast, I chat with Lauren Ferraro, a speaking coach and instructor in Toronto (and also my speaking coach), about how to be more comfortable on stage, how to lean in and not be afraid to make your voice heard, and be the best version of you that you can be.

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The minute I met speaking coach Lauren Ferraro for our first lesson together, I new I needed to have her on the podcast. And not just because she’s an expert speaker (a podcaster’s dream!), but because she just exudes confidence. I’m not talking about puff out your chest, hold your head up high kind of confidence. I’m talking about genuine confidence in yourself. Something I think most of us wish we had more of.

So, for this episode of the show, she joins me to chat about confidence, or in her case, being comfortable on stage, in a room or in yourself. The reason why it’s so important to have that confidence is because by being comfortable in yourself, you’ll feel more inclined to take risks that will inevitable have financial benefits. I’m talking negotiating your salary for a new job, getting a promotion and raise, pitching yourself as a freelancer, pitching your products and services as an entrepreneur or business owner (you get the idea).

I know that after listening to this interview, you’ll immediately want to start putting some of her tips into practice. For instance, her advice on how to network but practicing what you’re going to say ahead of time is invaluable! Also, make sure to check out the links below for more info about Lauren and her speaking business (which in my opinion, is so worth the money!).

Ever wondered what it's like to work on Wall Street? Then you'll love this episode! I chat with former investment banker Alex Grodnik who worked in the finance industry for almost 10 years, but eventually left to pursue an MBA then become an entrepreneur to live life on his terms.

Beyond sharing what life is like as an investment banker, Alex also shares some great tips on how to invest your money and how to be your authentic self.

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I’ve always been curious what it’s like to be an investment banker. I mean, is it really like Wolf of Wall Street, The Big Short or the classic Wall Street? Or is that all dramatized and it’s really just another office job?

After talking with Alex Grodnik, host of the Wall Street Oasis podcast, I feel like it might be a mix. Alex worked in investment banking for just under a decade, and left to pursue an MBA and start his own business, a fintech startup in LA called Payclub. But before he transitioned into entrepreneurship, he was an analyst at JPMorgan, then moved onto an advising role at Houlihan Lokey. He pursued a career in investing because he was always interested in investing and finance from an early age. But after working in the industry for several years, he realized it wasn’t something that got him excited anymore.

Luckily, he was one of the smart investment bankers and just saved everything he earned (instead of falling victim to lifestyle inflation). Because he lived fairly frugally and saved the majority of his income, he was able to quit, go back to school and have the financial freedom to become an entrepreneur.

In this episode we talk about what life is like for an investment banker and what some of his tips for investing are for regular people like us. Here are some of my favourite tips he shared.

Buy & Never Sell

This isn’t exactly his, tip, it’s one from Warren Buffet, but he shared it and I liked it. Basically, for anyone who is too afraid to invest because they are really risk averse, this is the secret sauce to not losing all your money in the stock market. Buy and hold. As Alex mentioned, you can’t time the market and you’ll probably never buy at the bottom or sell at the top of the market. But, if you buy and hold onto your investments for the longterm, you really can’t go wrong. It’s only when you sell in a panic because you see the markets dipping that you’ll lose money.

Don’t Borrow Money to Invest

I can’t stand articles out there that encourage people to borrow money to invest with because debt is cheap and it’s a bull market. Hey, if you want to take that chance, go ahead. I hope things work out for you. But for the average investor, the smartest thing to do is invest money you actually have, and invest any excess savings or money that comes your way. You got a tax refund? Awesome, invest it. You got an inheritance? Fabulous, invest it. You got a side hustle and don’t know what to do with that extra cash? Invest it!

Answer Truthfully “When Do You Feel Like You Are Your Most Authentic Self?”

I’m not sure if I got the wording on that exact, but this is something Alex asked himself when he felt like he wanted to make a change in his career. I loved how he put it, because I did the same thing when I was considering leaving my job. I asked myself when I felt the most proud and confident in myself, and the answer wasn’t sitting in a cubicle being told what to do by my boss. It was when I was doing my own thing with the podcast, blog and speaking that I felt I was being the me I always wanted to be. So, if you’re in a rut, ask yourself the same thing. When do you feel you are your most authentic self?

Want to learn how to become debt-free and financially independent? It doesn’t have to be one or the other, you can dig yourself out of debt and retire early. Just take it from Deacon Hayes from Well Kept Wallet who was able to pay of $52,000 in debt in only 18 months, then become financially independent and retire early with his family. If he can do it, why not you?

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Deacon Hayes, the blogger and podcaster behind Well Kept Wallet, was knee deep in debt to the tune of $52,000 in 2010. But instead of digging himself further and further into the whole, he decided to take responsibility and dig himself out.

He started by looking to the experts, other bloggers and authors that offered personal finance advice, and was able to implement their strategies to become debt-free in only 18 months!

Now, he’s all about educating others to do the same. But he doesn’t just focus on helping others become debt-free, he also wants to share how they can become financially independent and retire early too.

That’s certainly never something he thought he’d be able to accomplish, but now, in 2018, he is financially independent and technically an early retiree. But instead of drinking Pina Coladas on the beach somewhere, early retirement to him means being able to afford to do what he wants with each day. And what he wants to do is educate and inspire others to take control of their finances so they can live the lives they really want.

How to Become Debt-Free

So, in this episode we talk about a lot of things, but first let’s talk about debt repayment. Honestly, at the end of the day, to get a handle on your spending and debt, there are two simple things you need to do.

Reduce your expenses

Make more money

If you actually implement both things, you’ll be able to become solvent once again. It may take some time (longer than 18 months), but even if it takes a few years, these two things are key and they work!

Deacon also recommends the cash envelope system for reigning in spending, and having monthly money meetings with yourself or your partner to talk about your budget, your spending and net worth, and your future goals you’re working towards (and I totally agree!).

How to Become Financially Independent

Now, let’s talk early retirement. In order to achieve financial independence, there are three paths you can follow (though technically you don’t have to pick just one, you can do a combination or all three):

Invest in real estate

Invest in the stock market (no more than 10% individual stocks, then diversify your portfolio with index funds and ETFs)

Earn more money through entrepreneurship

And to help guide you and give you examples on how to do this, Deacon share real-life case studies on his website.

Get His Course for Free

Want to take Deacon’s “Debt Free in 18 Months” course for free? It’s valued at $97, but you can sign up for free by going to: wellkeptwallet.com/retire

For this episode of the podcast, I talk with veteran personal finance blogger Jim Wang about how he was able to sell his first blog (Bargaineering) for 6-figures after having it for just 5 years, and what some of his best wallet hacks are that he shares on his current blog, the aptly named Wallet Hacks.

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For this episode of the podcast, I talk with veteran personal finance blogger Jim Wang about how he was able to sell his first blog (Bargaineering) for 6-figures after having it for just 5 years, then we dive into some of his top wallet hacks that he now shares on his current website, Wallet Hacks.

First, let’s go back to the part where he shares that he was able to sell his first blog for a million dollars. There aren’t too many bloggers out there that I know have who have been able to do this (aside from JD Roth of Get Rich Slowly), so this is pretty impressive. What’s even more impressive is how frickin’ humble Jim is! You would never know that he’s financially independent and pretty much just living that best life from talking to him. He just comes off as a normal guy who write about money hacks for living at home. Which I guess he is, but still, sold his blog for 6-figures, I still can’t get over that!

Anywho, after selling that blog, he started up a new one called Wallet Hacks, which as you can guess is all about tips, hacks and strategies to optimize your dollars, be smart with your money, and become financial secure. Here are some of the hacks he shared with me in this episode.

The Secret Santa Hack

You may already know about doing a Secret Santa hack. It’s fairly popular in the office during the holidays (also in The Office, one of my favourite shows). This is something I’ve actually been able to take out of the workplace and integrate into my family life. All it requires is instead of buying gifts for everyone, you get assigned a person (in secret), buy them a gift, and then gift it to them on Christmas. Someone else is assigned you, and someone else is assigned that person and so on.

My family has been doing this gift exchange for two years now, and I’ve got to say, it’s amazing. We don’t have any young kids in our family anymore, which makes it easier, but it really is a big financial relief each Christmas. The holidays are an expensive, even without gifts, so this is a huge life saver.

Amazon Hacks

Jim doesn’t just have one hack for Amazon.com, he has 16! But, if you’re Canadian, I can’t confirm if all the hacks work for Amazon.ca, but you never know. You can read about all 16 Amazon hacks on his website, but here are just a few of them:

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Track Your Net Worth

This isn’t really a hack, but man is it a good thing to do. I’ve been tracking my net worth as well as my spending for over a year now, and it’s changed the game for me. Jim has been doing it for more than a decade, and he says it’s a big reason he’s been able to stay on track financially all these years. If you want to start tracking your net worth, here’s my free net worth spreadsheet to get started.

Get Credit Card Payment Notifications

Another thing Jim does to curb his spending is getting notifications or emails directly to his phone whenever he makes a credit card purchase. Not only does this help him know instantly if any fraudulent purchases are being made with his card, but it also reminds him of how much he’s spending. This is something I’m going to set up right now, because the one thing I hate about using my credit card is it’s just way to easy to tap and pay and forget about what you just bought.

I chat with HGTV star & host of Buyers Bootcamp Scott McGillivray about how to become a real estate investor in Canada, and how to go against the grain, take risks and go after what you truly want in life.

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It’s not every day you get to talk someone you’ve binge-watched on TV before. And man have I binged (okay, now it sounds like I’m a stalker). It’s just that I’m such a huge HGTV fan and have 100% watched every single episode of Scott McGillivray’s Income Property. As I mentioned at the end of the episode, I loved that show so much I even bookmarked a webpage application to be on the show. But I never applied. Partially because I was way too much of a scaredy cat, and partially because I didn’t own a house to transform into an income property (that’s probably the main reason actually).

Although that dream may have gone by the wayside, the dream of one day talking to the one and only host of Income Property, and now Buyers Bootcamp, Scott McGillivray certainly came true! And who better to talk to on the podcast about becoming a real estate investor in Canada.

I know I’ve mentioned a few times on the podcast how I’ve always had dreams of owning a few properties to rent out so I could have some passive income to fall back on in retirement. Well, I’m on my way slowly with owning my first property (my townhouse). Though that’s not really an income property as I currently live in it. Still, it’s a step in the right direction. As for adding on actual income properties, or trying my hand at flipping properties, I unfortunately have to wait a few more years. Since I’ve only been self-employed a year, my mortgage broker informed me I would need at least 3 years of self-employment records on hand when applying for another mortgage. So, I’ve just got a few more years ahead of me, but I’m hoping that in the meantime I can grow my income so my husband and I won’t have as hard of a time getting a good mortgage rate.

But enough about me, let’s talk about Scott, because he’s amazing! Not only did he buy his first income property in his 20s as a university student, he was able to grow his real estate portfolio exponentially in just a few years after that. And fast forward to now, he’s one of the most popular faces on HGTV.

If you wondering how that all happened, it wasn’t luck. It was a ton of hard work and finding people to say “Yes” when everyone around him was saying “No.” That’s the message I think I love the most from this episode. The message that the only way to succeed is just not giving up. As Scott mentioned, we’re trained to be workers in university, not leaders. Which is a big reason I believe that so many of us have trouble fitting in because we’re meant to be leaders or entrepreneurs. That’s definitely my experience, so it was pretty cool hearing Scott’s take on that.

Scott also mentioned three key steps for success that I wanted to reiterate here. They can be used for real estate investing specifically, or achieving any type of goal really.

3 Steps to Achieving Your Goals

1. Gather Information

This means taking the time to gather information for yourself so you have the tools and information to move forward. It could mean reading books or articles about the subject, watching informational shows like those on HGTV, or going to events or conferences.

2. Education

Once you’ve gathered the information you need, it’s time to educate yourself. You can do this by doing case studies, finding a mentor or instructor, or shadowing someone who is an expert in that field.

3. Implementation

Last but not least, you need to take action. As Scott mentioned, this is the step that most people fail at because they expect instant results or don’t fully see it through. You need to try, then try again. And if it’s not working and you keep failing, you need to go back to the first two steps to see what you’re getting wrong, then pivot.

Do know how to get money (as in earn), and do you truly get money (as in understand)? I talk with Kristin Wong, financial journalist and new author of the book Get Money about all things getting money! We talk about why people have such a hard time taking action on bettering their financial situation, setting financial goals, money and relationships, and being in the driver's seat of your investments.

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2018 is the year of the woman personal finance author, and I’m all about it! Just to recap, for season 6 of the Mo’ Money Podcast, I’ve interviewed the following fabulous female authors who’ve published books this year: Shannon Lee Simmons (author of Worry-Free Money), Elizabeth Willard Thames (author of Meet the Frugalwoods), and Cait Flanders (author of The Year of Less).

And for my latest episode, I’m interviewing first-time author Kristin Wong of Get Money. You may already be familiar with her YouTube channel or maybe you’ve see some of your articles in the New York Times, LifeHacker, or New York Magazine’s The Cut. She has been talking and writing about money for a while now, so it was only natural for her to write a book about how to live the life you want, not just the life you can afford.

Honestly, in addition to Broke Millennial by Erin Lowry, I think Kristin Wong’s book is the perfect for anyone just starting out in their personal finance journey and is looking for some actionable steps to take. And I really do mean actionable, because Kristin wrote her book in a way that will get you thinking and then doing!

What I love is that she breaks up her book into stages. Just like life has stages, so does you money. First, you need to power up, then optimize, then grow. I know that sounds simple, but she goes into way more detail in the book.

And we chat about a few of those things in this episode. Specifically, why people don’t take action. A lot of us know what we’re supposed to do, but it’s hard to change how we’ve always done things. One of Kristin’s hopes is that her book will be that trigger to help you get moving.

Next, we talk about goals. I never really knew financial goals were a thing when I was in my 20s, but I was always working towards something when I was starting to save and invest my money. If only I had made some of those goals more specific, I wonder where I’d be now in my financial life.

Then, we talk about something we’ve all dealt with in one way or another: money and relationships. I know first-hand everyone has an opinion about how you and your partner should manage your money, but honestly, those people need to stay in their lane in my opinion. There is no right or wrong way to manage your money, no matter if you’re single or in a partnership. It’s all about what makes the most sense for you and who you’re managing your money with.

Last but not least, we talking about investing. Something that way to many people believe is harder than it actually is. The thing is, you don’t need some fancy investment advisor in an expensive suit to tell you how to grow your money. You can actually do it yourself, or use a robo-advisor to make sure your investments are on track, as long as you get more comfortable with the lingo and some of the best practices out there.

I sincerely loved chatting with Kristin, and 100% recommend her book. I know as soon as I my younger sister moves out on her own, it’s gonna be one of the first books I hand her.

At the end of the day, money shouldn't be something you worry about, or feel guilty about, or don't even want to think about. We all deal with money. We all earn it. We all spend it. But it shouldn't be something we're ashamed of or hate talking about. Which is why I loved reading Shannon Lee Simmons' new book Worry-Free Money, which takes a unique and refreshingly positive approach to how to manage your money and feel good about it.

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I know I say this for almost every episode, but this seriously is one of my favourite interviews. And it could be because when I met Shannon Lee Simmons, author of Worry-Free Money and founder of The New School of Finance, for the first time, I immediately clicked with her. There aren’t too many financial planners out there who make money fun and cool, but she does and I’m so glad she was able to share her wisdom and personality on the podcast!

We talk about a lot of different topics in this episode, but there are two main points that we touch on. First, that budgeting doesn’t have to be boring or restricting, especially if you try out her method of not categorizing all of your variable expenses. I know for me, that’s what I used to do, and I would always end up kicking myself for overspending on groceries one month or spending too much on eating out the next.

Instead, just set aside an amount of money you can spend, and spend it until it reaches zero (and not more than that). If you do that, you’ll free yourself from the guilty of not matching your budget perfectly, but you’ll still won’t be spending more than you want. It’s simple really. So simple that I have no idea why we all over-complicate budgeting!

Another big topic we tackle is the idea of comparing our financial situation to those of our peers. This is something that is absolutely normal and not something to be ashamed up. We want to keep up with our peers (who doesn’t?) and we want to do whatever it takes so we don’t fall behind.

That being said, we don’t have all the information. We don’t know how much our peers earn, how much they spend, or what their net worth is. So really, we shouldn’t try to keep up with the Jones’ because we actually have no idea what’s going on with the Jones’ financials. Maybe they got a big inheritance which is why they could afford to buy a house. Maybe they are actually really frugal in their day-to-day lives which lets them afford those fancy vacations. Maybe they just have different values than us and are just really good at showing that good life on Instagram.

The important thing to remember is we should put the focus back on ourselves. Are we happy with where we’re at? Are we spending on things that match our values? Are we meeting our financial goals?

I probably could have talked to Shannon for another hour, but I called it at the 45-minute mark. That being said, I highly recommend her book Worry-Free Money (I seriously loved it!) and I also suggest you check out her online courses linked in the show notes.

Is it even possible to build a successful freelance business without taking on debt and without sacrificing all balance in your life? Yes there is, and Matt Inglot shares how.

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Before I went full-time self-employed, I had this crazy idea in my head that freelancing meant you’d always be worried about money coming in, would be living from gig to gig and would have no balance in your life. Well, a year later and I was definitely proven wrong, but this episode isn’t about my story, it’s about Matt Inglot from Freelance Transformation. Not only does he host his own podcast all about freelancing, he runs a successful freelance business himself building websites for high-level clients.

But as you might imagine, it wasn’t always smooth sailing for Matt. For him to achieve the success he has now, he made a number of mistakes along the way. Luckily, he’s open to sharing all of them on the show and has a lot of other nuggets of wisdom to share, such as don’t quit your day job before your side hustle is making money, always try to keep your overhead low, and try to avoid taking out a loan for your business if you can.

Your path may not be to quit city living and move to the woods, but that's not what Liz's (a.k.a. Mrs. Frugalwoods) story is about. In her new book, Meet the Frugalwoods, she shares how defining your life can help lead you to your best life, whether that’s living simply in the country, living it up in the city, or being nomadic and travelling the world. Not matter what path you end up on, the most important things to always remember is being true to yourself and making sure you’re living a life with more intention.

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Joining me again on the podcast, and now no longer an anonymous blogger at Frugalwoods, Elizabeth Willard Thames is the newly published other of Meet the Frugalwoods. Not a “how-to” book on living that frugal life or reaching financial independence, but her personal story of how she was trying to check-off life’s checklist only to realize, that checklist wasn’t making her happy and didn’t align with her values anyway.

I’m pretty sure most of us can identify with this. How many of us have been checking off things throughout our lives without really taking some time to think about whether what we’re doing or achieving is actually making us happy or bringing us fulfillment? I know I was doing that exact thing up until a year ago. I got my degree (check!), got married (check!), got a corporate job in Toronto’s financial district (check!), and by anyone’s standards was “making it.” But it didn’t feel like that to me, which is why I did a crazy thing and quit my job to work for myself.

That’s why I totally get Liz’s story in her book. I can relate to it on such a personal level. Heck, I even fantasize about moving to the country (in the Maritimes) with my husband in the next few years. Now, I’m not sure if that’ll actually happen, but I am definitely taking a page out of Liz’s book by trying to be more intentional with my life and also practicing sustainable frugality. To me, that means spending my money on stuff that brings value to my life, and not spending money on stuff that doesn’t. Also being strategic so I can maximize my dollars so there’s more money to save and invest for my future.

To me, this book was a great in-depth look into someone’s personal finance journey. I really loved this book, and I hope you do too!

You take so much care and consideration at your day job, why aren't you doing the same with your financial life? I chat with early retiree & big-time blogger about why everyone should be the CFO of their life.

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In the personal finance blogging community. J.D. Roth is considered a very big deal. He started his blog, Get Rich Slowly, early on, became one of the go-to resources for personal finance information, and he was able to sell it for I believe 7-figures, helping reach his goal of early retirement. And during his early retirement, he started a second blog focused more on being the CFO of your life called Money Boss, which also took off and was always nominated for Plutus Awards at FinCon every year.

Well, at a certain point, J.D. realized he wanted his original blog back. Since he was in the financial situation to afford it, in the fall of 2017 he bought it back and now he’s back at it (and I’m loving it!).

So, that’s a little bit of what we talked about this episode, but we also dive deep into getting your financial life in order, taking your finances seriously (as seriously you would a high-powered job in a big corporation), and what steps you need to take to reach financial independence like he was able to.

If this episode won’t inspire you to get out of debt and start investing for your future, I don’t know what will!

Do you know the difference between open-loop and closed-loop prepaid cards? Learn that & more in my interview with CPPO chair David Eason.

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Back in October 2017, I did a really crazy thing. I participated in the Money 20/20 Payments Race and it truly was an adventure I’ll never forget. The best part was being able to meet so many amazing people, and one of those people was a woman named Heidi who works for an agency that represents the Canadian Prepaid Providers Organization (CPPO). She was nice enough to offer me a free night’s stay in her home when I was in Denver, and to say thank you, I said I would gladly interview an expert from CPPO to talk about prepaid cards. I mean honestly, I think I won all around because I haven’t done an episode about prepaid cards and I actually really wanted to learn more about them from none other than David Eason, the chair of CPPO.

CPPO stands for the Canadian Prepaid Providers Organization, which is a “not-for-profit organization and the collective voice of the open-loop prepaid payments industry in Canada. It is the only association solely focused on this growing industry and includes the major players in open-loop prepaid in Canada.”

Open-Loop vs. Closed-Loop

Having been blogging about personal finance for over 6 years, sometimes I feel like I’ve heard about it all, but apparently not! I had no idea that open-loop and closed-loop cards until recently. But don’t feel bad if you didn’t know what they were either. They are really terms that only people in the prepaid card industry use.

So, what do they mean? It’s very simple. An open-loop prepaid card is either a Visa, Mastercard or AMEX prepaid card. It’s “open-loop” because it’s technically open to use at almost any retailer, as long as that retailer accepts credit cards for payment. A closed-loop prepaid card is a retailer-specific prepaid card, like a Home Depot gift card or a Shoppers Drug Mart credit card. The reason being is that they are comparatively “closed” because you can only use that card at that specific retailer.

You Cannot Build Credit with a Prepaid Card

One reason why the prepaid industry is trying to educate people about prepaid cards, and have moved away from calling open-loop cards “prepaid credit cards” is because they have nothing to do with credit. Open-loop cards work a lot like credit cards, but they will do nothing to help you build up a good credit history or rating.

Don’t think you can afford to live a life you’ve designed yourself? Think again! Pete McPherson from Do You Even Blog shares how he risked it all to live a life with more meaning.

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As I mentioned at the beginning of this episode, I ended up randomly meeting Pete McPherson from Do You Even Blog at a party at FinCon this past October. I liked him right away. He was so friendly, funny and full of energy. So when he non-pitched me to be a guest on my show, I couldn’t resist! And what’s even better, I was a guest on his show, the Do You Even Blog Podcast (listen to my episode here).

In this episode, we talk about how Pete made the risky move of leaving his cushy corporate job to do something crazy and start his own online business. Now, you may be thinking, why did he do this? Especially when he has a family? Well, it really came down to him wanting to start living a life that had more purpose and that he designed himself. Up until he made that change in his life, he felt like he was making choices based on what he thought he was supposed to do, not what he wanted to do. And because of that, he felt unfulfilled. Money really doesn’t buy you happiness. It’s a tool, and it’s up to you to use it the way you want. You can either earn money doing something you don’t really like, and then spend that money on stuff you think will make you happy (even if for a limited time). Or, you can take the risk to do something else, earn less, but spend the money you do earn to live a life that’s more intentional.

This idea of intentional living and designing your own life has become a bit of a theme on the podcast, and I think for good reason. The more millennials I talk to, the more I see a big shift happening. We’re realizing that the dream of a white picket fence, two cars and a stable job just isn’t cutting it anymore. We want more. And not more stuff, more out of life.

As Pete mentioned, he has made some special videos for all my listeners at doyouevenblog.com/momoney, so make sure to check them out. We also mentioned Smarter Queue as our new favourite (and cheap!) social media scheduler, so if you’d like to try out a free 30-day trial on me, click here.

For this Listener Series episode, I'm joined once again by past guest Lindsay VanSomeren, also a blogger at Notorious D.E.B.T. Last time we talked she was about to finally get rid of her home from hell. But catching up, that's not exactly what happened (though there is a happy ending!).

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For my first "Where Are they Now?" Listener Series episode, I check back with Lindsay VanSomeren who was one of my first Listener Series guests. Lindsay, who also blogs at Notorious D.E.B.T., was featured on episode 57, and shared how her and her husband bought their first home in Alaska together but had nothing but trouble with it. You see, it was built on a foundation of permafrost and they had to shell out $30,000 in repairs (that they couldn't afford). Literally pretty much the same storyline as the movie The Money Pit.

We ended off that episode with some good news though, because she had just received two offers buy the house. One of those offers would help them say goodbye to the home from hell, and stop getting into more and more debt so they could move on with their lives.

Unfortunately, both of those offers fell through. So, they had to make some tough decisions. Either hang on to the home and continue to get into debt, or get some help. They chose the latter and contacted a credit counsellor to weigh their options. In the end, they decided to go with a deed in lieu of foreclosure.

Once that was taken care of, they decided to move to Colorado for a fresh start. And now Lindsay is making a full-time living as a freelance writer, her husband is back in school, and they are slowly but surely building up their credit and saving up a downpayment for their next home in the future.

I'm so glad Lindsay was able to share this update, because I think her story is fairly common. It started out with buying a property they thought was great, and taking advantage of a special Veterans loan program they also thought was great. But in the end, the property was not what they thought and a program that let's you buy a home with no money down can also have dangerous consequences.

Luckily Lindsay and her husband have moved on, learned from their mistakes, and are on a better path now. So hopefully the lesson from this episode is that even if you feel like you are in an impossible financial situation, there is always a way out. There is a solution for every financial problem out there, but sometimes it means reaching out for help.

How can a year of less change your life? Just listen to my episode with The Year of Less author Cait Flanders to learn how a shopping ban, getting rid of most of her belongings & being more mindful with her money helped her regain focus and control of her present and future.

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She was my first ever guest (excluding my husband) on the podcast when I launched it almost 3 years ago, and now my friend and blogger pal Cait Flanders is back to chat about what has happened since Episode 3 of the podcast.

Well, a lot! For starters, she’s a full on author now, having just published her first book The Year of Less. And she’s not just a first-time author, her book is a hit. As she mentions in the episode, it’s still hard to find a copy at most book stores because they ran out of copies, so if you do still want to buy a copy, check Amazon first.

When we sat down for Episode 3 of the show, Cait was just about to finish her one-year shopping ban. I still remember her sharing that she wasn’t sure what to do after it finished. She eventually decided to continue it for another year, and although now she’s no longer on a shopping ban, she’s integrated the lessons she learned into her daily life.

The biggest lessons being to be more mindful when it comes to spending. It’s okay to spend money, but it’s about being more intentional with our spending and making sure we are spending money in alignment with our values that’s important. And when you do that, you’ll find that you can stick to a budget, you aren’t overspending as often (or anymore), and you don’t worry as much about your money.

This is a big lesson I also took away from her book and something I’ve been actively trying to integrate into my own life.

In this episode we also dive into other stories she shares in the book beyond the shopping ban, such as addiction and indulgence. Cait is now sober, but she used to have a problem with drinking, something she eventually realized was something she would do to fill a void or overcome other struggles in her life. It’s something I can relate to in that I definitely turn to certain things, like food or wine or even spending, to either deal with stress, unhappiness or hardship.

If you haven’t already grabbed your copy of the book, I highly recommend. And like I mentioned in the episode, I’m not recommending it because Cait’s my friend, I’m recommending it because it’s really good! I literally whipped through it in a day (no lie!), and I can’t stop thinking about it or telling other friends about it.

It's not easy to become a professional beauty blogger, but it's not impossible. And it doesn't mean you have to spend all of your money on beauty products to do it. Just take it from Jessica Desjardins, the founder of popular beauty website Beautezine.

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I’ve always been fascinated by beauty bloggers and vloggers, and not just because I have no clue how they transform their faces into beautiful masterpieces (and I can barely do my own mascara without smudging), but because the beauty space is so competitive! Believe me, every time I meet a new hair stylist or makeup artist, they usually share that they have their own blog or YouTube channel. I sometimes find it competitive in the personal finance community, I couldn’t imagine trying to build an online business in the beauty industry.

But, there are people out there like Jessica Desjardins, founder of Beautezine, who are proof that it is in fact possible to make a good living and have a broad reach as a full-time beauty blogger and content creator. You just have to be really good at it, and hustle until you make a name for yourself. And that’s exactly what Jessica did.

Before quitting her job to focus on her online business full-time, she was actually headed to medical school to pursue a career as a doctor (no joke, she went so far as to do the MCAT). But at a certain point in her studies, she realized that her true passion was beauty, and instead of always wondering “What if?”, she decided to take a big leap of faith and start her own online beauty magazine called Beautezine. It took her 6 years to make it the go-to beauty resource for Canadians, but now she’s able to do what she loves and be her own boss.

In this episode, we chat about how she was able to build her business into what it is today, how she manages her business finances and personal finances, and why no matter what she puts a high priority on staying out of debt and investing for her future.

Ever dreamed of becoming a digital nomad, able to work from anywhere and travel on your off time? That’s what my listener Grace was able to do, and she explains how in this Listener Series episode.

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One of my big aspirations in life is to become completely location independent and to travel abroad more. So when my next guest, podcast listener Grace (who also runs the blog Gracefully Expat) emailed me about being on the show, I knew I needed to talk to her to find out how she was able to leave Canada, set up shop in Ireland and run her own business.

What’s funny is Grace is also from Vancouver (like me), but she didn’t move to Ireland directly. She first went to the US for university, then when she got a job opportunity that would take her to Ireland, she lept at the chance to live somewhere new. After a few years working the corporate life, Grace starting making plans to leave and start her own online business as a tax consultant for expats like herself.

Now, she’s living it up, able to explore the rest of Europe quite easily since it’s so close, and live that digital nomad life like I, and so many of us dream of. It just goes to show, becoming location independent doesn’t mean you have to become an Instagram star or a famous beauty YouTuber. You can do a number of things as a business that don’t require you to have an office, like a tax consultant for instance.

My dream is that within 5 years I’ll be able to have enough saved up and a business that earns enough passive income that I can focus my efforts on developing more content, create more online courses and do financial counselling from anywhere in the world. I’ve got a lot of work ahead of me, but if Grace can do it, why not me (or you!).

Have you heard of the FIRE movement before? In this episode I chat with Bob Lai from Tawcan about what it means to be financially independent and how make an investment strategy to get there.

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For anyone who wanted a deep look into the FIRE movement, and to get the low down on how to become financially independent, this is an episode you are gonna love! I chat with Bob Lai, the blogger behind Tawcan, about his plans to reach financial independence while being a single-income family with his wife and two kids.

He even shares what his personal investment strategy looks like: a mixture of dividend paying stocks (a.k.a. blue-chip stocks), index ETFs, and a small percentage of growth stocks.

Now, if you’re just getting started with your investment journey, before getting into DIY investing like Bob, a good place to start is by investing in index mutual funds, like the portfolios that Tangerine offers. It’s actually what I started investing with, as they track the index and charge way lower MERs than the big banks.

Financial Independence vs. Financial Freedom

Most people use these two terms interchangeably, I’ve even been guilty of it. But talking to Bob, I learned that they actually mean to very different things.

Financial independence is when your passive income exceeds your expenses. Many people believe the magic number is to have 25 times your living expenses saved up through savings and investments. Or if you’re more conservative, 33 times your living expenses.

Financial freedom on the other hand is a relatively loose term, but generally speaking mean that you’ve accumulated so much wealth that you don’t even have to worry about or rely on your passive income.

Happiness vs. Joy

Another concept we talked about was the difference between happiness and joy, and balancing the two. You see, happiness is externally driven and has an expiry date. For instance, when you get a raise or buy something you’ve been saving up for. Both of those things would make you happy, for a time, and then it would dissipate.

Joy is internally driven, and is the feeling of being at peace. It’s also less fleeting than happiness, and usually comes about from fulfilling experiences and being around your loved ones.

A big part of the FIRE movement is about focusing on joy instead of happiness. Also, joy doesn’t cost as much as happiness (if we’re talking about happiness through buying goods), so the more you focus on joy, the more money you’ll be able to save to reach your goal of financial independence.

Stocks that Pay Dividends vs. Stocks that Don’t

Not all stocks are the same. Some pay dividends, some don’t. The companies that don’t pay dividends (ie. Facebook) are the ones that are still in a growth stage. Instead of paying dividends to their shareholders, they reinvest their profits to continue to grow the company.

Companies that do pay dividends are companies that are already so big (Proctor & Gamble, Johnson & Johnson), that they don’t need to reinvest all of the profits for further growth, so they share their profits with their shareholders (also making those shares more lucrative to potential stock buyers).